1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to equipment security apparatus in general and in particular to apparatus for locking equipment to a horizontal or vertical surface.
2. Description of Prior Art
Office equipment, such as desktop central processing units, file servers, tower-type personal computers, laser printers, facsimile machines, desktop copy machines, entertainment equipment, such as television sets in hotel, motel and hospital rooms, and numerous other types of equipment and apparatus, such as found in laboratories, which are relatively light weight and small in size are susceptible of being stolen when left unattended for even brief periods of time.
Among the various types of lockable security apparatus that have been proposed to prevent thefts of equipment such as described above is apparatus comprising equipment mounted members which have outwardly extending appendages and surface mounted members which comprise means for engaging the appendages and locking the equipment to the surface mounted members. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,777 there is provided an apparatus comprising a plate member having a plurality of keyhole-shaped apertures or slots which is attached to a surface as by an adhesive pad. Attached to the bottom of the equipment to be secured there is provided a plurality of cylindrical couplers. The couplers are terminated by an enlarged end portion. In use, the couplers are inserted in the larger portion of the keyhole-shaped apertures. The position of the equipment is then shifted until the enlarged end portion of the couplers is captured beneath the smaller portion of the keyhole-shaped apertures. A locking block which engages an edge of the equipment is then locked to the plate member to prevent a reverse movement of the equipment and removal of the couplers from the keyhole-shaped apertures. Alternatively, a separate base plate member is mounted to the equipment and separate shouldered couplers are used to connect the two plate members together.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,763 there is provided a security device for office machines comprising a plurality of equipment mounted couplers having appendages with enlarged end portions extending outwardly therefrom, an outer box-shaped housing having a plurality of holes provided in the surface thereof for receiving the appendages and an inner box-shaped housing having a plurality of key-shaped slots which are moved into registration with the holes in the outer box-shaped housing to engage the enlarged end portions of the appendages when the inner box-shaped housing is moved relative to the outer box-shaped housing in a telescoping fashion. A key operated lock is provided to lock the inner box-shaped housing in the outer box-shaped housing.
The above-described security apparatus has a number of disadvantages. For example, the size of the plate member(s) and housings normally used is substantially equal to the footprint of the equipment locked thereto requiring the manufacture and stocking of various sizes of plate members and housings to accommodate various sizes of equipment and the placement of the equipment mounted members is dictated by the location of the key-shaped apertures in the plate members and housings. Moreover, the locking block used in the first described apparatus tends to be relatively bulky, is external to the equipment and therefore unsightly while the structures in both the first and second described apparatus appear to require a separate plate member to provide flexibility in the type of equipment that can be protected.
In still another prior known security apparatus there is provided a pair of U-shaped bars with downwardly depending T-shaped legs. The bars are permanently attached to the bottom of the equipment to be secured as by adhesive strips. A corresponding pair of locking boxes is provided for mounting to a surface, as by adhesive strips. Each of the boxes is provided with a T-shaped hole for receiving the T-shaped legs of the U-shaped bars. In use, after the legs are inserted in the holes in the boxes the equipment is shifted so that the enlarged portion of the legs is captured beneath the narrower portion of the T-shaped hole in the boxes. A key operated lock is then actived to move a blocking member against one of the legs to prevent movement of the legs in a reverse direction.
The use of the U-shaped bars and boxes in the apparatus described above also has a number of disadvantages. For example, the bars cannot be removed from the equipment when the equipment is removed from the boxes making it difficult to place the equipment on a surface without damaging the surface, the fixed length of the bars limits their placement on the equipment, requires the manufacture and stocking of different sizes of bars and boxes to accommodate different sizes of equipment, and in general, the bars and boxes are required to be mounted in parallel, limiting the placement of the boxes on a supporting surface and the manner in which the bars can be mounted on the equipment.